Neighborhood landmark gone for good

A Northland restaurant that operated for 50 years until it was destroyed by fire won't be rebuilt.

A Northland restaurant that operated for 50 years until it was destroyed by fire won't be rebuilt.

The three owners of Stan's Restaurant, 4333 Westerville Road, settled a lawsuit earlier this month with property owner Bill Loscko, son of the original Stan's owner, giving up rights to the land.

Stan's owners Kevin Trombley, Mary Klotz and Bob Jefferson filed a lawsuit against Loscko last August, claiming he was standing in the way of rebuilding the restaurant, which was destroyed by fire April 10.

According to the lawsuit, Loscko would not sign off on documents allowing the three owners, who were leasing the land from Loscko, to be awarded the insurance money needed to rebuild the restaurant.

At that time, the lawsuit said Trombley, Klotz and Jefferson offered to pay Loscko the amount of money left on their lease to obtain the land and use the remaining insurance money to rebuild the restaurant.

A ruling in Loscko's favor was issued in January, and Trombley, Klotz and Jefferson filed an appeal. Earlier this month, they gave up that appeal and reached a settlement with Loscko. The two sides declined to provide details of the settlement.

"That would be the end," Trombley said. "It was hard to give up, but the circumstances dictate that's what we're going to have to do."

Trombley said he, Klotz and Jefferson will not look for another location for Stan's.

Stan's Restaurant opened in 1958. Loscko, who took over operations in 1984, sold the business and leased the building in 2004 to Trombley, Klotz and Jefferson, three longtime employees of the restaurant.

Reopening the restaurant "didn't make good business sense," Loscko said. "The business was losing money, the customer count was down and, of course, the economy was down."

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